


Curses & Colds

by Tangela



Series: Gammahammer [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Sick Character, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 23:39:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15181865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tangela/pseuds/Tangela
Summary: Thor catches a cold, and Bruce is tasked with taking care of him. Easier said than done.





	Curses & Colds

It had been so long since Bruce had been able to settle in one place for very long, let alone with another person. But living with Thor felt right to him, even if they were complete opposites in every way. Bruce preferred quiet evenings with a book, and Thor was all for adventure, but somehow they fit well together. Bruce could rein Thor in as easily as Thor could coax Bruce out of his shell. It had been a year since Bruce’s last incident, and while he was the one who had to do most of the work, he chalked some of it up to being with Thor.

That didn’t mean there wasn’t a lot to get used, of course. Thor was a literal god from another planet, after all. Most things he was able to understand and adapt to well, but there were a few things that would take a while. One of them being the concept of illness. Asgardians were incredibly resilient, but Earth wasn’t exactly a god-like realm, and even Thor’s immune system had a bit of adjusting to do.

Bruce was curled up on the sofa one evening, typing up a few work notes when the door swung open. He looked up. Thor was swaying in the doorway, face red, and eyes and nose running.

“I’ve been cursed,” he announced, voice cracking.

Bruce crossed the room to Thor, placing a hand on his forehead. He was hot to the touch, definitely running a fever. Thor looked at him, frowning in between sniffles.

“What is it? Can I be cured?” he demanded.

Bruce bit back a smile. “Oh, you can be cured all right, don’t worry,” he said reassuringly, taking Thor gently by the arm. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

Thor refused to move. “But the curse- Whoever did this, we must stop them before they strike again!”

Bruce allowed himself a smile, otherwise he was going to end up laughing right in Thor’s face. “Honey, it’s a cold. They’re completely normal on Earth, I’m actually surprised you haven’t caught one before now. Yours is a pretty bad one, I’ll admit, but that’s all it is.”

Thor still looked unconvinced, but he trusted Bruce and let him guide him to bed. “How can it be a cold when I’m so warm?” he asked, flopping into bed as Bruce took his shoes off and pulled the blanket around him.

“It’s stupid, right?” Thor was already struggling out of the blanket, and Bruce firmly tucked him back in. “I know you’re too warm, but you’ve gotta sweat this out. Trust me, okay?”

Thor relaxed himself, but he made sure Bruce could see he was pouting.

Bruce just laughed. “Yeah, that doesn’t work on me anymore, you know that.”

Thor’s pout quickly became a scowl.

“You stay right here and I’ll be back with some things to help you.”

Thor nodded.

“Promise me you’ll stay here.” Bruce knew better than to trust him so readily.

“Promise,” he croaked.

Bruce had barely been gone ten minutes when he found Thor out of bed, hanging out of the open window with no shirt on. It was all Bruce could do to stop himself from pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, taking Thor’s arm and pulling him back inside.

“But I’m too warm!” Thor protested as Bruce led him back to bed.

“I know, and you’re going to make it a lot worse by doing that,” Bruce told him, trying to wrestle Thor back into his shirt before tucking him back in.

Thor scowled, and Bruce just laughed.

“You keep that up and your face will stay like that, you know.”

“What cures did you bring?”

Bruce just rolled his eyes. “They’re not cures, they’re just things to ease the symptoms until it goes away by itself. I’m gonna make you some soup, it’ll ease the pressure in your head. Please stay in bed.”

He made sure to tuck Thor in as much as he could to try and keep him down, but he knew if he wanted up, he’d get up and there was nothing he could do about. Bruce was beginning to feel like he was babysitting a cat.

True to form, when Bruce came back, Thor was hanging out of the window again, but at least he’d had the sense to keep his shirt on this time, Bruce was grateful for that.

Thor banged his head on the window frame when he heard the door open. He turned around, guilt written all over his face.

“Thought you’d be gone longer,” he admitted with a sheepish smile, sliding back into bed.

“You’re gonna be the death of me,” Bruce told him, “if you’re not the death of yourself first.”

He carefully handed Thor the bowl he was holding, sitting down on the end of the bed. “Hopefully this’ll help.”

Thor lifted the spoon, poking at it. “What is it?”

“It’s lentil soup, something I made a lot in India while I was…living there. Spices are good for a blocked nose.”

Thor tentatively put the spoon in his mouth, pleasantly surprised, quickly finishing the bowl.

“Thank you, I already feel a lot better,” he said with a sincere smile.

“It’s only temporary, so don’t be getting any ideas,” Bruce told him. He leaned in, reaching for Thor’s face. “You’ve got a little on your face, let me-”

 

Without warning, Thor sneezed, knocking Bruce onto his back. His fingers were tingling, as if they’d been shocked. He looked at Thor.

“Did you just shock me?” he asked.

Thor just looked at him. “Did I?” He seemed genuinely unaware.

Bruce shook his hand as he sat up, trying to get the tingling sensation out of his fingers. “Might have been static,” he said.

Thor sneezed again, and Bruce almost fell off the bed. That was definitely not static.

“You generate electricity when you sneeze?” he asked incredulously, flapping his hand to get the now stinging sensation out of it. That one hurt.

“Not that I’m aware of, but I’ve never had this cursed cold before,” he replied, wiping his nose attractively on the back of his hand.

Bruce tentatively handed him a tissue, careful not to touch him.

“Did I hurt you?” Thor asked, worry in his voice.

“No, of course not,” Bruce lied. It stung, but he’d been through worse. Besides, the last thing he wanted right now was Thor riled up in the state he was in. “Don’t worry about it.”

\--

Thor wasn’t proving himself the easiest to look after while sick as it was, but the electric shock sneezes weren’t exactly helping. Bruce couldn’t be within two feet of him without fear of being electrocuted, and had resorted to wearing rubber oven mitts, which though kept him safe, made him practically useless at everything else. He’d tried leaving the house to find something more effective, but the near tantrum Thor threw every time he tried just wasn’t worth it. Bruce couldn’t figure it out – he’d seen Thor thrown through a wall (and he’d been told that he was responsible for that on a few occasions as well), fight beasts ten times his size, take on the Goddess of Death and live to tell the tale, but this is what a cold did to him? The God of Thunder, ruler of the Nine Realms, who had been killed by none, though not for lack of trying, and he’d met his match in a cold? Bruce hoped for his sanity’s sake that this would end soon.

When the constant string of sneezes started, around the third day, Bruce had to leave the room, for his own safety. Thor was at the point of property damage now – the bulbs had blown in every light, and burn marks littered the walls in random patterns. Thor would just smile at him when he risked coming back in. Bruce was beginning to worry if the apartment would be left standing by the end of it.

\--

Luckily for him, with Thor’s stamina, he was back to his usual energetic self within a few days.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” he told Bruce sincerely, “I know I wasn’t the easiest.”

Bruce bit his tongue. “No, you were fine,” he lied, “No trouble at all.”

Without warning, Bruce sneezed. He suddenly felt dreadful. He looked at Thor with a grimace. “Thanks a lot, I think I caught your cold,” he grumbled.

Thor didn’t answer, just lifted Bruce into his arms and carried him to bed.

“Hey, wait- What are you doing?” he asked, his face beginning to burn. It was too early to blame the cold for it.

“Taking you to bed, you need rest,” Thor told him, gently putting him down and pulling the blanket around him before getting in beside him.

Bruce tried to get up. “I’m fine, it’s just a sneeze, I’ve got work to finish-” he started, but his protest was cut short by Thor wrapping an arm around him and pulling back against him.

“No arguing, you need to rest up,” Thor told him, and Bruce would have laughed at how hypocritical he was being if his throat wasn’t beginning to hurt. “I don’t mind if I get sick again.”

“You can’t get sick again, you’ve already had this strain,” Bruce explained to him, but he was touched that Thor would let himself fall ill again just to be with Bruce, although he was secretly glad he couldn’t. He couldn’t do that all over again, especially not now that he was sick too.

Thor pulled Bruce in closer to him, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Get some sleep, you’ll feel better for it.”

Bruce smiled to himself. The difference in Thor now and how he was just a few days ago was really something. But he kept it to himself, cuddling in closer to him as his eyes drifted shut.

**Author's Note:**

> A little idea that popped into my head a few days ago. It's a classic trope, but I've never written it before, and I thought it'd be cute for these two. This isn't my best work, but I'm working on a few other pieces right now, so I hope it's alright! Kudos and/or comments are always greatly appreciated. My writing tumblr is @maybeishouldwritesomething if you'd like to send a message of request. Thank you for reading!


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